FAIR USE Is A Disappointment

Filed in archive Commentary , Government on April 26, 2007

The FAIR USE Act was introduced in Congress by Reps . Rick Boucher (R-VA) and John Doolittle (R-CA). The acronym stands for "Freedom And Innovation Revitalizing U.S. Entrepreneurship Act." With a name like that you know it's anything but.

The FAIR USE Act is not a broad reform of the DMCA or definition of consumer fair use. Instead it's narrow legislation. It lets people use media in a few limited ways. But it provides no support to the makers of such technology. It allows consumers to legally use technology in these cases. But the software developers or electronics or computer manufacturers who make such technology have no protection and could still be sued by the entertainment industry.

The following would be legal for consumer use.
> Make "a compilation of audiovisual works" for classroom use
> Skip commercials and "objectionable content"
> Transmit files over a home network
> Access works in the public domain
> Access works "of substantial public interest solely for purposes of criticism, comment, news, reporting, scholarship, or research."